The Green Bay Packers secured a player in Matthew Golden who several analysts believe was the best wide receiver prospect in the entire 2025 NFL draft, but at No. 23 overall Golden may not have been the best value pick of the Packers’ weekend.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic wasn’t overly effusive in his assessment of Green Bay’s draft, ranking the Packers 20th overall out of 32 teams. However, he did mention Texas edge rusher Barryn Sorrell as one of the potential steals of the proceedings.
“One of my favorite prospects in the entire draft, Sorrell is a big, strong edge presence who moves well and can discard blocks with his heavy hands,” Brugler wrote on Sunday, April 27. “He has top-notch intangibles and will provide an impact as a rookie, both on and off the field. It was awesome seeing him celebrate with the Green Bay fans after his selection.”
Barryn Sorrell Will Build Career With Packers on Technique, Consistency
GettyFormer Texas Longhorns edge rusher Barryn Sorrell.
Sorrell stands at 6-feet, 3-inches tall and weighs 256 pounds. He also posted a 4.68-second 40-yard dash time and logged a 34-inch vertical at the NFL combine before putting up 28 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.
“Sorrell’s measurables and speed won’t be eye-catching, but he’s very consistent and plays with good technique,” Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote. “He can play up or down, but might be targeted as a 3-4 outside [linebacker] due to a lack of length. He plays with adequate power at the point and can work around blocks and into the backfield. Sorrell’s rush lacks speed and power but he wins with his hands and has an above-average feel for creating entry points with positioning and body turn. He doesn’t have high-end traits, but he’s productive and reliable.”
Sorrell, 22 years old, tallied 11 tackles for loss and 6 sacks across 16 games during his senior campaign at Texas.
Packers Didn’t Have Elite Pass Rusher on Defense Last Season
GettyGreen Bay Packers edge rusher Rashan Gary.
The Packers’ needed an injection of life into the pass rush, even despite traditional counting statistics indicating that Green Bay was above-average in that regard during the 2024 campaign.
The defense finished the year with 45 total sacks, which was well inside the top one-third of the league in the category. However, an eight-sack performance against the Tennessee Titans, the worst team in the league last year, in week 16, as well as seven sacks against the Seattle Seahawks earlier in the season skewed that figure somewhat.
Rashan Gary was the top sack producer on the roster with just 7.5 sacks last year. Defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt was the only other player to tally five sacks on the season. Former first-round pick in 2023 Lukas Van Ness took a step back from his rookie season (four sacks), putting up just three sacks last year.
Zierlein projected that Sorrell could eventually develop into a starter, though if he shows promise in training camp, the fourth-round selection (No. 124 overall) could find himself a starter at some point during his rookie campaign — or, at the very least, a pass-rush specialist who contributes meaningfully in certain circumstances during his first NFL season.
